A woodcutter who built his own Hobbit House revealed he has never watched Lord of the Rings – and lives almost off-grid despite being nearly 90.
Great-grandad Stuart Grant, 89, moved into the cottage in Tomich, near Inverness, he bought as a wreck with no roof and no doors in 1984, while he was renovating a house.
But he found it so satisfying doing DIY on the quirky outbuilding which dated back 200 years, that he decided to make it his home.
Dad-of-two Stuart trained as a joiner but suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome, for 46 years so said he worked ‘in slow motion’ on the three-bedroom rustic pad.
Great-grandad Stuart Grant (pictured), 89, moved into the cottage he bought as a wreck with no roof and no doors in 1984, while he was renovating a house
But he found it so satisfying doing DIY on the quirky outbuilding which dated back 200 years, that he decided to make it his home
His house was featured in an article for a Belgium website in 2017, and he says he has been inundated with visitors since it appeared on a French tourism board with recommendations for north Scotland.
Stuart isn’t the only one with a ‘Hobbit House’: last year, a £4.5million home in Cheshire was put on the market with a cottage embodying every Lord of the Rings fan’s dream home.
Stuart doesn’t have a mobile phone or use the internet and no longer drives due to his age, but he loves getting out and meeting people.
Stuart said: ‘I haven’t watched Lord of the Rings.
‘It’s just a coincidence that my front door is almost the same shape and same kind of wood, oak.
‘There are stained glass windows on each side of it.
Dad-of-two Stuart trained as a joiner but suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome, for 46 years so said he worked ‘in slow motion’ on the three-bedroom rustic pad
He has been inundated with visitors to his home in Tomich, near Inverness, after his house was posted on a French tourist board’s recommendations for north Scotland
He doesn’t have a mobile phone or use the internet and no longer drives due to his age, but he loves getting out and meeting people
Stuart said: ‘I haven’t watched Lord of the Rings. It’s just a coincidence that my front door is almost the same shape and same kind of wood, oak’
He added: ‘There are stained glass windows on each side of it’
He said about not knowing The Lord of the Rings and about the history of the cottage: ‘I didn’t know about them and they didn’t know about me. Before me there were cows, calves and chickens living in here, and a donkey. It was a shoemakers’ cottage and a croft’
‘I didn’t know about them and they didn’t know about me.
‘Before me there were cows, calves and chickens living in here, and a donkey.
‘It was a shoemakers’ cottage and a croft.
‘There was no roof, just four walls which are 200 years old.
‘It is not a fancy house, it is made from other people’s left overs.
‘I was always a glutton for scenic beauty, beautiful houses, and thatched cottages in England.
‘This has a concrete roof but it looks like a thatched roof.’
The 89-year-old said: ‘There was no roof, just four walls which are 200 years old. It is not a fancy house, it is made from other people’s left overs’
He added: ‘I was always a glutton for scenic beauty, beautiful houses, and thatched cottages in England. This has a concrete roof but it looks like a thatched roof’
After starting work on it, Stuart then moved to Australia for a year. He first went to Australia in 1959 and got a job building houses
He lived there for five years and returned to Scotland on a three-and-a-half month bus journey through Syria and India in 1964 with his wife Margaret, who was Australian. He went back in 1976 and returned to Scotland in 1984. He then went back to Australia for another year, and made a couple more short trips
He had bought land and planned to renovate a larger house
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Stuart said: ‘I moved in in 1984 but it wasn’t done up, I was living with concrete mixers then went out to Australia for a year. I was just doing it in slow-motion’
After starting work on it, Stuart then moved to Australia for a year.
He first went to Australia in 1959 and got a job building houses.
He lived there for five years and returned to Scotland on a three-and-a-half month bus journey through Syria and India in 1964 with his wife Margaret, who was Australian.
He went back in 1976 and returned to Scotland in 1984.
He then went back to Australia for another year, and made a couple more short trips.
He had bought land and planned to renovate a larger house.
Stuart said: ‘I moved in in 1984 but it wasn’t done up, I was living with concrete mixers then went out to Australia for a year.
‘I was just doing it in slow-motion.’
He said he put on a roof and doors, as before there were ony doorways and two windows.
Initially, the cottage was only supposed to be Stuart’s temporary accommodation whie he was doing up the house.
He said he put on a roof and doors, as before there were ony doorways and two windows
Initially, the cottage was only supposed to be Stuart’s temporary accommodation whie he was doing up the house
‘I thought I would make it comfortable’, he said
Stuart added: ‘I was getting such a buzz out of doing it. I don’t know how much it cost. I cut the wood myself from fallen trees and collected stones from the river for the stonework. I put the stairs in’
He said: ‘It took quite a few years, I never counted it. I just enjoyed doing it so much. I got carried away’
He said that doing creative projects has kept him young
Stuart said: ‘I have just always been an inventor and a designer. People think I’m clever because I do original things, but they’ve not tried. I’ll be 90 tomorrow but I feel like a teenager. Work is the greatest therapy’
‘I thought I would make it comfortable’, he said.
‘I was getting such a buzz out of doing it. I don’t know how much it cost.
‘I cut the wood myself from fallen trees and collected stones from the river for the stonework. I put the stairs in.
‘It took quite a few years, I never counted it. I just enjoyed doing it so much. I got carried away.’
He said that doing creative projects has kept him young.
Stuart said: ‘I have just always been an inventor and a designer.
‘My mum said “you’re always scribbling” when I was a little boy.
‘People think I’m clever because I do original things, but they’ve not tried.
‘I’ll be 90 tomorrow but I feel like a teenager.
‘People can’t believe I’m 90. I’ve travelled the world, it is all just a great adventure.
‘I could start with a seed and end up with a house. Work is the greatest therapy.’
